10 10s in 2010...update #2

July 5 update
(since a number of items appear more than once, I am putting notations by the first occurrence, then making the font on subsequent ones smaller)

1--Keeping My Home

1. Create (and then stick to) a housekeeping system I have pretty much created one...now working on the sticking to it part...I'm still pretty haphazard here. :(
   
2. Try out at least one new recipe each month Jan-Troy's Chicken and Speedy Burritos Feb--Spider Spaghetti, Mar--Lebanese spinach puffs and cheeseburger buns, April--black bean/rice veggie burgers and pound cake and trifle, May--spinach stuffed pork loin, June--tarragon cream halibut and gluten-free experimenting...
   
3. Serve balanced meals (with a protein, a vegetable, and a starch/carb) at least most nights usually so far so good
4. Grind my own wheat flour going great...until I got diagnosed with gluten intolerance...still deciding how to work out all this part of our lives.
   
5. Make bread all year 9 months down and going strong
   
6. Build up my food storage--at least 3m worth of all non-perishable items
7. Learn about gardening in Alaska--what foods grow well, when/how to plant and harvest, etc so far so good
8. Have a garden we opted against doing an in-ground garden since we may be moving...so we have a bunch of stuff in containers in the kitchen.
9. Can/freeze produce in season I helped clean/fillet/freeze a bunch of salmon last week...more to come I'm sure, and then on to fruits and veggies. We just got a new freezer though (very crowded kitchen between the garden and the freezer now!) so we have room for the fish, moose, and whatever else I get put together.
   
10. Participate in the butchering and/or preservation of a moose that Hubby shoots (that's one of his goals for the year!

2--Read Books (ideally including the following specific titles)(* means I've started it, date indicates when finished)

1. 4/10 To Kill A Mockingbird--dang, how had I never read this before? It was excellent! So much better than most other 'coming of age' stories I've read.
   
2. A Christmas Carol
3. something by a local author
4. a biography or memoir
5. *Going Rogue by Sarah Palin (mostly for cultural literacy)
6. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (Time top 10)
7. Logicomix by Apostolos Doxiadis et al (about Bertrand Russell) (Time top 10)
8. Beauty by Robin McKinley Couldn't find it at the library here, so may need something else
   
9. Changing My Mind by Zadie Smith (Time top 10)
10. 1/10 Icy Sparks--story of a young girl in Appalacia and her life with undiagnosed Tourette's. Unfortunately the way it was written was just really depressing, so even though the idea of the story appealed, I don't recommend the book.
11. (alternate) Fablehaven
12. 6/10 The Audacity of Hope by Barak Obama (alternate) This book was so sooo good. Regardless of our agreement/disagreement on any given political platform, this book demonstrates that our president is intelligent, thoughtful, logical, and ethical--he tries really hard to be true to what he perceives and believes, and I have to respect that.
    

3--Improve Financial Stability

1. Pay off (at least) one account DONE!! Feb 12--tax return + online payment = bye-bye visa!!
2. Keep current with tithing (unfortunately some months this has been hard for us, and then catching up on our tight budget is even harder) just have to keep it up...
3. Live within our means, always considering wants vs needs, and making the modest choice even with the latter. so far so good on the being modest part, although it's hard to "live within our means" when our means have turned into nothing...still not sure what will happen for us employment-wise this fall. Still praying.
4. Use coupons and shop sales at the grocery store I've been good about sales, not so much with coupons
   
5. Use our tax returns and PFD's wisely (for food storage/debt, not playing!) so far so good
6. Build up our food storage slowly but surely
   
7. Build up my year's supply (the non food stuff, like toilet paper and toothpaste and laundry soap) to 3-6 months worth
8. Do not buy any new diaper/etc fabric so far so good
9. Sew items to sell using the fabric I have so far so good
10. Actively market my etsy shops It has slowed down a lot the last two months with our traveling, but I'm getting it up and going again.
    

4--Be More Present with my Family

1. Read more books to my kids
   
2. Acquire a couple of new children's books in order to do #1 without losing my mind ☺ Two at Bear's birthday
3. Cuddle my kids every day
4. Include the kids in the housekeeping schedule (give them assignments)
5. Stay OFF the internet one day a week (generally Tuesdays) so far so good, mostly...
   
6. Be a good example for the kids by limiting my screen time on other days
   
7. Say "just a minute" less often workin on it...doing ok...
   
8. Play with my kids, not just work near them so far so good
9. Have a monthly 'date' with each family member totally epically failing on doing formal stuff at this point...focusing on spending one-on-one time at home though...
   
10. Go to bed at the same time as my Hubby (so we can have pillow talk and cuddle time) so far so good

5--Create

1. Create (sew or knit) at least 6 things per month, for my family or my shop so far so good... I really like doing the "finished objects" post each month to help me see what I've done. Jan FOs, Feb FOs, Mar FOs, Apr FOs, May FOs, Jun FOs,
   
2. Introduce a new product (or two or three) in my shop(s) this year. Four so far.
3. Allow myself the thought-outlet of blogging frequently ☺
4. Finish Wolf's sweater I'm on the second sleeve...still...
5. Knit something for myself (I have no idea what yet)
6. Use up existing stash rather than buying new materials
7. Try out at least one new recipe each month
8. Learn how to make shampoo/conditioner I just found a recipe that I'm anxious to try out
9. Make handmade gifts for my family/friends (not necessarily to the exclusion of purchased items) Hubby and I are contemplating making a wholly handmade Christmas (within our family) this year. I would love to do that!
10. Help my children make things

6--Focus Inward

1. Be more active (I'd like to go walking, though in winter in Alaska with two little ones and no where to walk indoors this is a challenge...) I'm a bit hit and miss, but I am getting out often even if not always walking per se...
   
2. Work on my poor ignored abdominals...crunches or pilates or something I've been totally slacking off on this ☺
   
3. Get outside more often so far so good
4. Read more fiction (see list above!)
5. Read my scriptures We're doing better with the family reading, but this probably has to count as a strike cuz I'm not doing well on my own
   
6. Pray more (an ongoing challenge for me unfortunately) so far so good
7. Get the local breastfeeding support group on it's feet. It's been very hit-and-miss...three of our six meetings have been just me, and the others have been just me and a friend or two (all of us established breastfeeders)...all efforts at bringing in other people have fallen flat. So I decided that six months was a fair try and I have let it go. I'm not sure whether I'm sad or relieved.
   
8. Sing more so far so good ☺
9. Take time to be still and quiet I'm doing much better with this
10. Check in on these goals at least quarterly to monitor my progress I'm batting 1000 on this one ☺

7--Focus Outward

1. Do my visiting teaching every month so far [mostly] so good (we've always tried, but a couple of sisters have been very hard to connect with)
   
2. Become a Big Sister with Big Brothers/Big Sisters...it's something I've wanted to do for a long time. or not
   
3. Build up the local breastfeeding support group.
4. Fulfill my church calling (I am the coordinator over the Relief Society meetings formerly referred to as "Home, Family, and Personal Enrichment meetings") so far so good
   
5. "Pay It Forward" whenever I can (in whatever ways I can) I gave away one of my slings to someone who needed one. I helped a new mom with breastfeeding. I loaned a wrap to another new mom and taught her how to use it.
   
6. Look specifically for opportunities to PIF/send out good karma yes
   
7. Shop locally or handmade whenever possible.
8. Feed the local missionaries each month We did at the beginning of the year, then missed a couple of months for assorted reasons, but plan to start up again.
   
9. Teach a friend how to do something new Not sure what this will be...I guess I've taught some people about henna...and another person has asked about cloth diapers...
   
10. Teach my kids how to do new things some days better than others...

8--Learn

1. Read a parenting book Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn (review coming sometime...)
   
2. Read a marriage/relationship book
3. Read a political book The Audacity of Hope by Barak Obama
   
4. Read a nutrition or health book
5. Read a biography or teachings of a latter day prophet or apostle
6. Read my scriptures
7. Learn new knitting techniques Jan--increases, Feb--seaming (shoulders, sides, and setting in sleeves), Jun--picking up stitches
   
8. Learn how to make shampoo and/or conditioner
9. Try out at least one new recipe each month
10. Seek to find/recognize the sacred in all aspects of life, and the connections between truths ("spiritual" and otherwise) this has been just awesome

9--Blog

1. Write a series of posts about The Family proclamation
2. Finish the final post in my "motherhood" series done ☺
3. Finish the birth-related posts that are sitting in my drafts folder done ☺
4. Research and write more posts on specific vaccinations
5. Write reviews of the books I have read but haven't written about yet: Hold On To Your Kids, The Omnivore's Dilemma, Raising Your Spirited Child
6. Write reviews of books I read this year slow but steady, right?
7. Post more regularly on my cooking blog so far so good...and yummy...
   
8. Post more regularly on my family scrapbook blog (it's private, for keeping extended family updated mostly) so far so good
9. Fill in gaps by posting older stuff on the family scrapbook blog too so far so good
10. Leave comments on my friends' blogs ☺
11. BONUS write a series on the Relief Society proclamation
    

10--Celebrate

1. Celebrate the earth cycle holidays (equinoxes, solstices). so far so good
2. Finally start our long-planned family tradition of having an authentic medieval meal (ie, big meat, candlelight, no utensils) once a year. It was pretty cool
3. Establish a new family tradition for Jesus' Birthday This was also pretty cool
4. Have a family pizza night at least twice a month frequently, and invite someone to join us. We are going at monthly-ish, which is fine. It's fun, but it is a lot of work.
   
5. Have a family or couples game night at least once a month strike--STILL haven't been doing this at all.
   
6. Go to playgroup and mom's support (breastfeeding) group and RS meetings and thus rejuvenate myself often mom's nights are good too
   
7. Visit some major sites of my own state this was quite an adventure, to say the least...
   
8. Play music in the home/car, and sing more so far so good
9. Get outside often and breathe deeply this has been good
10. Do my best to live deeply and suck the marrow out of life this has been very good
11. BONUS start a new family tradition of celebrating the countries of our ancestors by having a meal of authentic foods on that country's national holiday (some I've hit and some I've missed...and I'm just being ok with that at this point)
12. I know I posted somewhere my plan to make cakes for each family member's birthday, but can't find it on this list... I have done it for Hubby & Bear, now Wolf...hmm, am I supposed to make one for me or not?